AT&T puts $5,000 bounty on copper wire thieves

STOCKTON - AT&T is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for a rash of copper wire thefts that have cut services to thousands of AT&T customers in Stockton in recent weeks.

STOCKTON - AT&T is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for a rash of copper wire thefts that have cut services to thousands of AT&T customers in Stockton in recent weeks.

According to authorities, thieves are cutting cables on utility poles and stealing copper wire to sell for scrap. Police have documented 12 cases of copper wire thefts in Stockton since June 28, said Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department. On a number of occasions, residents and businesses have lost power, telephone service and internet service, Silva said.

"We've seen an increase in this over the last couple weeks," Silva said. "During these 12 reported incidents, there were two times that there was a power outage affecting neighborhoods and nearby businesses, and that can turn into a very dangerous situation. We know someone out there knows something about who's committing these crimes and where they're selling their wire at, and we need those people to come forward to provide our investigators with that information so we can put a stop to this."

Roger Haack, president of Geiger Manufacturing Inc., said his business on East Scotts Avenue was without telephone and Internet service for four days after thieves stole a 150-foot-long phone cable at the southeast corner of Weber Avenue and Sierra Nevada Street. The outage also affected the company's security system.

"It's hard to say what it might have cost us, but it was definitely a huge inconvenience," Haack said. "We're lucky we weren't broken into."

Since early March, there have been more than 35 copper wire thefts in east Stockton neighborhoods affecting service to thousands of AT&T customers, officials said.

"AT&T takes this matter very seriously," Robert Ruiz, AT&T's regional manager for network services, said in a statement. "We're hoping the reward will motivate people in Stockton and in the Central Valley to be alert and to pay close attention to any suspicious people who appear to be working on or trying to cut down AT&T cables."

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Stockton Police Department at (209) 937-8323 or AT&T security officials at (800) 807-4205.

Contact Jason Anderson at (209) 546-8279 or janderson@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/crimeblog.